Planning commission continues Ranger Ranchette hangar proposal after safety, noise and intensity concerns

The Montrose County Planning Commission continued a public hearing on the Ranger Ranchette special use permit on Feb. 27 after more than an hour of testimony from the applicant, staff and dozens of nearby residents who raised safety, noise and dust concerns.

Staff summarized the request as a proposal to allow four hangars (including one hangar-home) and continued use of an existing private airstrip across roughly 34 acres in the Ranger Ranchettes minor subdivision. The county’s planner told commissioners the airstrip is a legal nonconforming use and that adding hangars constitutes an expansion that requires a special use permit and conditions.

Applicant Dan Panassa, who read a prepared history of the airstrip and said the project is intended for private, hobby flying, asked the commission to allow the modest buildout so “a piece of local history can live on.” He told the commission the plan does not envision commercial operations and said he would be amenable to conditions including dark‑sky, down‑directed lighting.

Nearby residents pressed for stronger written limits. Philip Wontke, a property owner adjacent to the runway, said the community wants to prevent commercial uses and “not have a hangar built that has five bays and it’s rented out to different people,” adding that increased traffic would change neighborhood character. Multiple speakers described repeated “touch-and-go” flights over houses and urged explicit restrictions on pilot training, turbine engines, limits to single‑engine aircraft and caps on the number/size of hangars.

Residents also raised public‑safety questions about low approaches, reported stunts and insufficient water for firefighting. The applicant said he intends to keep an on-site 4,000‑gallon tanker and that the fire district and public works have reviewed the site; staff confirmed the project is served by a 6‑inch water main per the record. Several speakers submitted videos documenting overflights and dust from the dirt runway.

Commissioners and staff discussed a set of possible permit conditions: limits on hangar size (applicant noted a typical trend toward a 5,000‑square‑foot hangar but said it was not part of his written proposal), lighting standards, restrictions on on‑site fuel sales and storage limits, a dust‑mitigation plan, annual dust control (e.g., mag chloride), a named contact person at the airfield for complaints, and documentation that any activity that would violate FAA rules should be reported to the FAA. Staff advised the commission that approval would be subject to the Board of County Commissioners’ final review and that a special‑use permit may later be revoked for noncompliance.

After public comment and a discussion by the commission, Commissioner Lana McKenzie moved to continue the Ranger Ranchette special use permit to the March 27, 2025 meeting, close oral public comment that night, accept written public comment through March 18 for packet preparation, and direct staff to craft additional conditions addressing hangar size, an on‑site contact, lighting, fuel storage and dust control. The motion carried unanimously.

Next steps: the commission will review additional public comments and staff‑drafted conditions before the application is scheduled first on the March 27 planning commission agenda; the Board of County Commissioners will make the final decision on any approved special use permit.